


Battle Creek

by Rotwang



Category: DBH - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Battle Creek AU, Detective Reed - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, FBI Nines, M/M, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rotwang/pseuds/Rotwang
Summary: Gavin/Nines Battle Creek AU. Gavin is the top detective in a garbage fire of a city. Nines is the lone FBI agent assigned to the precinct to help with their cases (aka provide FBI resources to a department that’s never seen a new piece of equipment in its entire history.)





	Battle Creek

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably never gonna get finished but I did enough on it I wanted to share ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Sorta choppy bc originally it was gonna be a TJ twitter thread but it got waaaay to big lol

Gavin/Nines Battle Creek AU. Gavin is the top detective in a garbage fire of a city. Nines is the lone FBI agent assigned to the precinct to help with their cases (aka provide FBI resources to a department that’s never seen a new piece of equipment in its entire history.)

  
Gavin hates Nines on principal. He’s everything Gavin isn’t. Clean cut, well spoken, and big on procedure. Gavin works off his gut and whatever he can Macgyver into existence. He pulled off a drug sting with a baby monitor once.

  
Nines is quiet and polite to everyone. He’s handsome too so everyone is all over his dick from day one. Gavin hates him more for it. And then there’s his stupid nickname. “Nines” instead of “Niles”. Not that Gavin can blame someone for avoiding that shitstain of a name. He’s going to anyway. Blame Nines, that is.

  
His first day Detective Kara Ayfor asked him about it and he had the whole room fawning over him even though it’s just because his birthday is all nines. Gavin calls him “Agent Stern”— or just “Agent” when he can get away with it. Nines exclusively calls him “Reed”; even though almost everybody else calls him “Gavin”.

  
Gavin doesn’t trust Nines. He’s too calm, too placid. He’s smart though, and has a sharp tongue. Gavin can see flashes of something in him when they argue. Like something big, and mean, and pacing behind the bars of that calm half smile.

  
Gavin makes it his mission to find out why a decorated agent was sent to this hellhole of a nowhere city. Nobody has a bad word to say. And Nines won’t spill. He doesn’t trust Gavin either. He even smiles when he says it.

  
“I trust that you’re a good detective. But you don’t want to be friends— quite the opposite.” His smile feels canned, like a mask. “Why should I share personal details with you? You surely won’t reciprocate.”

  
Nines seems relaxed. Like he couldn’t care one wit about Gavin or his trust. He probably doesn’t, the way he swept in and stepped right into the spotlight with his fancy tools and FBI lab gadgets. Gavin seethes and doubles down.

  
They work together for weeks before Gavin tells him about his parents. About his absent dad and how it had broken his 6 year old heart when they’d divorced. Nines turns towards him on the bench and when Gavin finally looks at him his face is openly sympathetic.

  
His voice is soft when he tells Gavin he’s sorry, and he appreciates how hard it was for Gavin to share. He’s almost... gentle— in a way Gavin has never seen but makes his breath catch a little.

  
“It’s nice, to know a little more about you after working together all this time.” Nines says. They sit for a moment, just sharing a minute of quiet in the first non-hostile interaction they’ve ever had.  
“It’s impressive. You nailed the daddy issues really well— especially for someone who never knew their father and was raised almost exclusively by your aunts. Good job. “

  
Nines slaps a silently shocked Gavin on the shoulder as he stands, his smile the most genuine Gavin has ever seen. It’s dazzling. He disappears back inside the precinct and Gavin swears up and down the alley. For more than one reason.

  
Gavin doesn’t give up. He contacts Nines’ old boss Perkins, to find out why he’s been saddled with the hot g-man from hell. North says Nines slept with Perkins’ wife— but Gavin just can’t let it go. And not just because of that little twinge he felt talking about Nines preferring women. It was like disappointment but obviously it was just his gut telling him that the story was fishy. Obviously.

  
Perkins confirms North’s story. Though it’s... odd. He only goes into detail after he hears what Gavin says. Like he was waiting to find out which story to stick to. He’s convincing. Not nearly as earnest as Nines, and Gavin can already tell Perkins is kind of a shit 2 minutes in. He leaves with no more answers than he came with.

  
Nines is more convincing about the affair than Perkins was. He seems genuinely contrite— placing the blame squarely on himself and managing to compliment both Perkins and his wife (“Laura” of course he manages to name drop.) And Gavin is sure the name will check out if he bothers to run it.

  
Gavin doesn’t know why Perkins would be willing to humiliate himself and his wife rather than tell the truth about Nines’ demotion— but he’s going to find out one way or another.

Gavin spends a lot of time being humiliated. He’s a good detective but his boss’s boss takes every opportunity to crush him and remind him of their bad blood. Not to mention his incarcerated, con artist mother— who somehow manages to mastermind a heist and escape on the same day.

  
Gavin and Nines bring her in but not before Nines has charmed her into sharing as many intimate details of Gavin’s life as possible. It’s hell. But the embarrassing stories don’t compare to the moment during the lie detector test when Nines asks her if she loves her son, and her yes blinks an angry red “false” on the monitor.

  
Gavin barely keeps it together. He knows lie detector tests are fallible— he does. But... it’s hard to ignore evidence of something you’ve always feared. It’s a nasty reminder that maybe Gavin has not gotten over his mother the way he thought. The anger and hurt make it easier to resent Nines for it.

  
Gavin guesses that’s why Nines finally tells him why an agent of Nines’ standing is stuck in this backwater. He says he slept through 9/11. That he was stationed in New York when it happened, coming off a hard assignment. That he just wants to do his best where he’s needed.

  
It’s... really heartfelt. Gavin feels a twinge of sympathy— which is why he asks Simon to check up on Nines’ public file at the FBI. Part of Gavin wants it to be true. Wants Nines to just be that bland handsome robot who fucked his boss’s wife and is here to pay his dues and give them FBI money.

  
Nines started working for the agency in 2003. Gavin isn’t surprised. Not really. He’s seen that creature behind the placid smile— the teeth just a little too sharp. He leaves it alone. He doesn’t say that he knows, though he suspects Nines is aware Simon looked up his file for Gavin.

  
After that Gavin gets distracted by the actual work they do together. It’s sort of a relief to be paired up with someone at his level— someone who challenges him, pushes him to be better. Plus he’s easy on the eyes— but Gavin will only cop to that in the deepest, darkest part of the night; when he’s a few shots in and the flashes of lithe flesh cased in expensive suits don’t feel like the taboo they do in the daylight.

  
Nines warms to Gavin too. Well, it’s not so much warming as mist clearing. Nines is warm to everyone. He’s charming and polite, but with Gavin he’s more real. His wit and acerbic humor are harsh— cruelty comes easily to him— but Gavin likes that. He prefers the truth; a side effect of having a con artist mother. And the true, cruel Nines might be someone Gavin can trust.

  
If he wasn’t such a fucking stickler for procedure. If Gavin has learned to tolerate Nines on a personal level then he has learned to hate him on a professional one. Gadgets aside, Nines is almost a machine when it comes to rules. 9 times out of 10 it’s what sparks their arguments during the day. Everyone in the precinct knows to vacate the room when Nines and Reed come back from a crime scene if they don’t want front row seats to another knock down drag out.

  
It’s precisely this fundamental clash that makes Gavin hesitate before checking out the warehouse down on 5th. He knows Nines won’t approve of him going alone but it’s the end of the day and he’s already here...

  
When he wakes up from the pistol whip to the face he’s chained up in a basement. Not a bad basement, all things considered (and Gavin would know). It’s like a regular storage area, not a serial-murderers-R-US— so things are already looking up.

  
Things look less up when his insulin ruse fails. It’s a trick he and his old partner came up with if they ever got kidnapped: tell bad guy you have diabetes and need your insulin. Bad guy goes to pharmacy to get insulin without a prescription and gets nabbed by your precinct. Very clever. Suddenly not so clever when the bad guy gets away and decides to inject you with insulin even though he’s pretty sure you were lying.

  
One hypoglycemic nap later and Gavin is pretty sure he’s not going to survive this. His captor is smart— an escaped convict, wanted for armed robbery. A good man, once. Which is why Gavin is almost certain he’s lost this battle. He doesn’t have anymore tricks. He supposes it’s nice he’s not being tortured? But that’s a poor comfort.

  
His kidnapper, Dan, turns on the TV for him at one point. Of course Nines is the one doing the press conference. He was always the one doing them these days. The city’s golden boy. Gavin scoffs.  
They watch together for a moment. Nines makes the requisite pleas to the public for information— but then he strays from the usual script.

  
“And if the person who took Detective Reed is listening, I’d like to make you an offer. I’d like to trade myself in for him. On your terms, wherever and however you want. I’m a more valuable asset, and I just want to see him come home safe.”

  
Gavin makes a disgusted noise. “What an asshole.”

  
“The man offering to take your place chained to a post in someone’s basement is an asshole?” Dan is deadpan.

  
“It’s not like it’s for me. It’s obviously a trap, and even worse it’s a publicity stunt.” Gavin leans away from the TV, he doesn’t want to see Nines’ perfect face. “That guy. That pretty boy FBI agent just loves to be the city sweetheart. He doesn’t give a shit about me.”

  
Dan mutes the TV and they sit in silence for a few minutes. Dan oozes something heavy into the quiet, like dark clouds hovering on the horizon.

  
“It’s a fucking crazy futile gesture, yeah.” He watches Nines step down from the podium on the silent screen. “But you should be goddamn thankful you have someone willing to do crazy futile for you.” Dan stands, suddenly angry. “Sometimes crazy futile is all you get— sometimes crazy futile is what matters.”

  
Dan stomps out of the basement, leaving Gavin at an odd loss for words. He’s obviously touched some kind of nerve... or maybe he was just the asshole here.  
Gavin shakes it off. No time to be worrying about his kidnapper’s emotional baggage.

  
Gavin waits a long time before he hears the upstairs door close and a car pull out of the driveway. After some creative contorting, he manages to wiggle over and get his hands on an old golf club. It’s a poor defense against a man twice his size in good health but Gavin is stubborn, and death isn’t going to get him without a nasty, dirty fight.

  
He nearly takes Nines’ head off with it— the agent surprising him by barreling down the stairs at top speed a few hours later. Gavin is so fucking relieved to see those blue eyes he just sort of buries himself into Nines’ shoulder. Nines holds him there, in the dark.

  
“It’s good to see you Gavin.”

  
Hearing his name like that, for the first time— quiet, almost whispered into his ear, takes Gavin a second to recover from. He almost doesn’t step back before the rest of the precinct come stomping in. They try to take him to the hospital but he insists on coming with them for the bust.

  
It’s satisfying to get Dan back in custody, but also a pretty sad story. The guy just wanted to see his niece get married. Gavin is a little surprised how easily Nines lets them stay for the ceremony. He plans on using this lapse in strict procedural etiquette against his partner immediately; but it’s still a little bit hard to think about lording things over Nines with the memory of that whispered name and that sweet little smile on Nines’ face as he watches their con walk his niece down the aisle.

  
Gavin manages to avoid the hospital. Mostly by giving very, very mean looks to anyone who even starts to suggest it. They all give up eventually and just start piling “happy you didn’t get murdered” snacks on his desk. It’s cute, in a stupid workplace-family kind of way.

  
Eventually he’s the only one left in the precinct. He organized it this way on purpose. Gavin won’t admit it but he’s a little shaken. The idea of having to go back out onto the street to go home is... not appealing at the moment.

  
Nines scares the bejeezus out of Gavin when he drops in. Gavin just assumed he’d left a while ago (leave the paperwork to the peons and all that.) But apparently Nines was waiting for him. He’s more casual than usual. His jacket slung under his arm and the perfectly pressed sleeves of his shirt rolled up over corded forearms. Gavin tries really hard not to stare.

  
“I can’t imagine they left you with quite this much work.” Nines smiles that mean little smile that he only uses with Gavin. “Though your department does leave much to be desired, efficiency-wise.”

  
Gavin shrugs. Trying not to return the smile. “Yeah well. Not all of us have a revolving door of hot assistants to do our filing.”

  
Nines’ smile is easy. It matches his clothes. Less manicured than usual. North told him Nines had been on the edge of frantic in their search for him. Brilliant of course, but not as calm and collected as usual. Gavin wrote it off as the extra panic of a potential cop killer loose on your watch; but it’s harder to remember he is a cockroach on Nines’ yellow brick road with the other man smiling at him like that.

  
“Would you... like to get a drink?” Nines is almost hesitant. Almost.

  
“Like... with you?” Gavin’s brain feels sluggish.

  
“Did you think I was just asking for your general feelings on the subject?”

  
“No— fuck off, I get it I’m just—“ Gavin huffs. “Look it’s been a long day cut me some slack, jesus.”

  
“You’re right, of course. You should go home and rest—“

  
“No!” Too fast. “I mean, no, I’m good to drink— “ The words are just not working today. “I’d like to drink. With you. Many alcohol. Please take me to the bar. “

  
There’s that smile again. The easy one. The one that reaches Nines’ eyes and fits him when his sleeves are rolled up and his hair is starting to fight its gel. Gavin’s heart does some kind of move he’s decidedly going to write off as a latent side effect of the insulin from earlier.

  
It’s surprisingly easy, getting drinks with Nines. He’s as knowledgeable about everything as he is about crime scene science; and Gavin is gratified to see him less buttoned up.  
Gavin himself is still a little raw. He realizes when they get to the bar he probably should have taken a rain check. In some ways the noise is comforting, but it also has him anxious, waiting for another cold clock from behind.

  
On his way back from the bathroom there’s a bit of a bottleneck, and when someone jostles him from behind he just reacts, elbowing the man and shoving him back into the wall. He apologizes immediately, but it’s a little late for that and he already knows that he’s not going to get to skip this fight. Figures.

  
Suddenly there’s a tall figure between them, pushing Gavin behind him, all smiles and charm and height. Nines is a good negotiator— maybe the best, but this guy is drunk, and big, and probably bored out of his mind in this nowhere city.

  
Gavin tries to step around Nines— if this guy wants a fight then he’s going to get a goddamn fight! He feels a big hand clamp around his arm and yank him forward, but before he can react there’s a meaty crack, and the dude is out cold on the floor, slumped against the wall.

  
It happened so fast Gavin could almost missed it— the guy had barely moved before Nines’ fist connected with his face. It was a precision attack too. Nines wasn’t drunk, but he wasn’t exactly sober either. Gavin tries to collect his jaw off the floor before Nines realizes he’s staring.

  
“What the fuck Nines.” Gavin says as they rush off.

  
Nines’ hand is still clenched as they grab their coats and slip out into the night. There’s a clamoring behind them but Gavin is looking at Nines. There was real anger on his face when he hit that guy— the perfectly chiseled features twisting up into something vicious and alien.

  
“I’ll take you home.” Nines says as they get back to the car. He’s stiff. The carefully curated ease he usually exudes in his voice and body struggling to fill the quiet.

  
“Jesus. Remind me never to cut in front of you for the bathroom— Christ.” Gavin lingers outside the car. Lighting up a cigarette under a severely disapproving gaze.

  
Nines drums his fingers on the top of the car. Standing with the driver’s side door open, obviously in a hurry to get moving. He’s staring off to the side, lost in thought. Gavin snaps his fingers.

  
“Hello? Earth to robocop.” Nines sighs heavily as Gavin breathes smoke into the night. “You gonna let me know what that shit was about or do I need to ask Simon to break into your FBI psych file.“  
Nines doesn’t answer. Which is odd. He’s usually better at the mean banter than Gavin is. But his mood seems to have shifted.

  
“Sorry to cut the evening short.” The mask is back. “You should probably rest anyway.” Nines’ face is placid again. Open. Devoid of life.

  
“You probably shouldn’t knock out patrons at my favorite bar.” Gavin says. “But, yanno.” Gavin is who he is. He’s not going to leave something alone— whether he knows it’s a touchy subject or not.  
Nines doesn’t bite. He just shrugs on his jacket and slides into the seat, seemingly content to wait for Gavin to finish in silence.

  
Gavin flicks the half spent cigarette to the ground and grinds it into the asphalt with slightly more force than necessary. He does need to rest. But he also needs to figure out what Nines’ deal is.


End file.
